Days after he officially launched his presidential campaign, the 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Ind. and current rock star of the Democratic party Pete Buttigieg had a little taste of how the next few months might play out for him.
Buttigieg has drawn overflow crowds across Iowa, as well as criticism about his sexual orientation.
Protesters shouting about “Sodom and Gomorrah” interrupted Buttigieg — who regularly credits his husband Chasten during speeches — at a Tuesday event in Des Moines.
One of the protesters, Randall Terry, also cited in biblical texts as having been destroyed by sinful acts. Terry is a Christian activist who founded the anti-abortion rights group Operation Rescue.
After the tirade got drowned by “Pete!” chants, a cool-as-a-cucumber Buttigieg told the crowd: “The good news is, the condition of my soul is in the hands of God, but the Iowa caucuses are up to you.”
Buttigieg was interrupted three times by protesters affiliated with Terry, according to CNN.
During a town hall meeting in Fort Dodge, Buttigieg spoke about the need for marriage equality, when somebody shouted, “You betray your baptism!”
On his first event Wednesday, in Marshalltown, protesters became more theatrical: Terry, dressed as the devil, goaded “Jesus” to join him in hell, tempting him with “a cup of warm blood” as a fake Pete whipped the bejusus out of Christ.
Terry told the Daily News that his goal is to “get Christians to vote Republican.”
“We believe that he’s the most dangerous person in America,” adding, “the worst possible candidate.”
He wants to “kill babies,” and “recruit young people into homosexuality,” he told The News from his car, driving to Buttigieg’s next event. “He’s the beautiful face of evil.”
And it’s only officially the third full day of the campaign.
